Concentration, Perseverance... and Having a Short Little Span of Attention!
This afternoon, I spent a moment contemplating the slight irony of the fact that my Hive blog is now my longest/most published blog in the 25-odd years I have been creating content online.
The "ironic bit" is the fact that my possibly greatest challenge in life is the fact that I tend to be rather scatterbrained and have a short little span of attention.
Or, what our modern, eternally-medicalizing society likes to call ADHD.
Somehow, I have managed to stick with this through some 2000 posts and change, and there have only been relatively minor breaks in the routine.
I have even kept blogging on the rare occasions when I have been "away!"
Am I being a bit self-congratulatory, here? You bet! The reason being that most of the time I launch myself into new ventures — even related to writing, which I truly enjoy — with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm... only to get "distracted by shiny objects" a few weeks/months later, and abandoning my latest pet projects in the process.
And no, I don't think it's related to needing a new "dopamine fix."
These days, the mental health industry talks a lot about dopamine "addiction," as a result of technology and social media.
Maybe I should throw in a quick explanation: Dopamine is a "feel-good" neurotransmitter that's released into our brain by things as small as a "like" on our latest tweet to receiving a nice compliment from a person we really like.
Of course "dopamine addiction" is not really a thing; it's in a similar arena as claiming to be addicted to marijuana.
We have possibly grown addicted to feeling good all the time, just like heavy pot smokers might be addicted to feeling high. It's not about the root substance, it's about the feeling.
But I digress...
And that's precisely why personal blogging/essaying works so well for me! Because I am not tied into (most of the time, anyway!) writing about "a subject," I can do these little "asides" within my posts and have them be stylistically part of my creativity.
And blogging, itself, works well because I can go all over the place, in terms of choosing subject matter...
My scatteredness has definitely gotten worse in recent years.
Lately, I have been working diligently towards photographing and selling ("offering for sale") literally hundreds of items on eBay and through other online marketplaces. This requires extensive photography... and I have noticed that I really struggle to stay focused on doing as many items "per session" as I was able to do, even 10 years ago.
Back then, photographing 100+ items in a day and then post-processing each image for posting readiness was well within reach... these days I really struggle to do more than about 40 before I have to step away, or I'd just go nuts and run screaming through the house!
Knowing this makes me doubly grateful that I am managing to keep up with this blog and persevere as well as I have been!
Even though concentrating can be hell at times!
Thanks for reading, and have a great week ahead!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
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Created at 2023-03-27 00:48 PST
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Congratulations! I'm glad Hive works for you, and that your posts work for us.
Forty photos per session?! I do about 40 a year. I love your photos though.
Congrats! 2000+ posts on Hive is a noteworthy achievement.
Nailed it. It's one of the reasons why I love writing / blogging. Whether it's a poem, fiction story, sharing an experience or writing about business, you can literally sit down and let your fingers do its magic.